2011 GT1 World Championship

The bull well and truly roared in Navarra this afternoon when the All-Inkl.com Munnich Motorsport Lamborghinis underlined their total domination of the sixth round with a one-two finish in the Championship Race.

Dominik Schwager and Nicky Pastorelli, starting from the fourth row of the grid due to an engine change penalty carried over from Silverstone, worked their way through the field to claim victory.

The sister car of Marc Basseng and Markus Winkelock, starting from pole, had controlled the race from the start but was forced to take a drive-through penalty with 15 minutes remaining. The No.37 car which was running second at the time swept into the lead as the No.38 rejoined and tucked in behind.

Third place went to the Sumo Power Nissan GT-R No.21 of Jamie Campbell Walter and David Brabham. The pair had held second place but a problem at the pit stop dropped them down a place.

GT1 newcomer Bertrand Baguette and Maxime Martin secured fourth place for Marc VDS in the Championship Race. The team's best result of the year to date in the Ford GT.

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Fred Makowiecki and Maxime Martin in the Marc VDS Ford GT completed the double at Ordos International Circuit with victory in the Championship Race to add to their Qualifying Race success the previous day.

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Over 15,000 spectators packed the main straight grandstand and lined the grass banks of the Inner Mongolian circuit to witness the first instalment of GT1's Chinese triple-header. The total weekend attendance was put at over 20,000, marking an impressive debut for the championship in China.

It was another commanding performance from the Ford GT pair. They had held the upper hand since Qualifying to take a maximum of 33 points from the weekend. They withstood a sustained pursuit from the JRM Racing Nissan GT-R of Richard Westbrook and Peter Dumbreck for the second consecutive race.
Stef Dusseldorp and Clivio Piccione in the Hexis Aston Martin were true to their promise of finishing on the podium by claiming third place. Fourth were Hexis stablemates Christian Hohenadel and Andrea Piccini in the Aston Martin.

The drivers' championship leaders Lucas Luhr and Michael Krumm in the JRM Racing Nissan GT-R had an eventful race. Starting from the sixth row, Luhr had worked his way up to eighth at the driver change. However, just as in the Qualifying Race the previous day, the duo were plagued by wheel nut problems at the pit stop and rejoined in 13th. By the end Krumm had taken the Nissan to ninth place and two points.

Their nearest challengers, Marc Basseng and Markus Winkelhock in the All-Inkl.com Munnich Motosport started from 15th, following a stewards' ruling which relegated them from sixth place. Winkelhock produced a stunning opening stint to bring the car through the field before handing over to Basseng who rejoined in eighth place. The German pair eventually finished eighth (4 points). Despite their troubles, Basseng and Winkelhock were able to close the gap to Luhr and Krumm in the overall drivers' standings. The result shook up the chase for the teams' title. All-Inkl.com Munnich Motorsport dropped from joint first to third behind JRM and Hexis.

Home soil did not prove to be a happy hunting ground for China's Ho-Pin Tung in the Exim Bank Team China Corvette. Having been deprived of a chance to drive in the Qualifying Race after co-driver Jeroen den Boer damaged the car into retirement, Tung started the main event from the last row. Tung gained four places by the time of the driver change and den Boer brought the Corvette home in 12th place.

There was further disappointment for the other Team China Corvette in the hands of Sergio Jimenez and Michael Rossi. Jimenez ran strongly in the midfield before handing over to Rossi who spun the car at Turn 17 by getting on the gas a little early. The pairing finished last as a result.

The race was mostly incident-free on the tight Ordos layout but Christoffer Nygaard in the Belgian Racing Ford GT triggered a three-car clash at Turn Three just before the pit window opened and was forced to retire. The first casualty was Nicky Catsburg whose race ended when he beached the Sumo Power GT Nissan at Turn Seven on lap three, the incident prompting the first of two safety cars.

The next stop on the China trail is Beijing next weekend and you can follow all the action live here at RaceDepartment on our officially SRO sanctioned GT1 live stream player.

 
  • Nippon2

Ace video RD! It seems the GT1 pilots nearly escaped from a big one :)
 
The Young Driver Aston Martin team completed a stunning double in a dramatic ninth round of the championship in Beijing. The combination of Darren Turner and Stefan Mucke took the chequered flag in the Championship Race to record their first victory of the 2011 season. The result crowned a perfect two days for the German squad after Tomas Enge and Alex Muller had taken the honors in the Qualifying Race earlier in the day.
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It meant that Young Driver took the maximum 43 points in Beijing to climb to the top of the teams' standings. Turner and Mücke also move to second in the drivers' table.

Third place for Lucas Luhr and Michael Krumm in the JRM Nissan GT-R consolidated their lead of the drivers' championship.

The race started and ended under the safety after a heavy downpour before the start made for treacherous conditions at the Goldenport circuit. The rate of attrition was high with only nine of the 18 starters running at the chequered flag.

It was looking like an Aston Martin 1-2-3 for the second consecutive race. The Hexis car of Andrea Piccini (Christian Hohenadel) was leading the race with six minutes left but like so many before him, Piccini pirouetted the car into the gravel at T7.

Enge in the Nr7 had started the Championship Race from pole but there was a three-way shuffle at the pit stop. Turner in the Nr8 got out ahead of Enge's co-driver Muller while Piccini in the Hexis Nr4 leapfrogged them both to grab the lead before his mishap.

The Nr41 Marc VDS Ford GT (Maxime Martin and Bertrand Baguette), the Qualifying Race pole-sitter, staged a great fight back through the field from 14th place to finish fifth (10 points).

Marc Basseng (Markus Winkelhock) spun into the gravel at T1 soon after the start while Dominik Schwäger parked the sister All-Inkl car at T13 under the same safety car just 15 minutes into the race.

The driver title ambitions of Basseng and Winkelhock took a big blow. Luhr and Krumm now head the standings on 131 points from Turner and Mucke on 120. The All-Inkl pair slipped to third on 101. Eleven drivers have a mathematical chance of taking the crown at the season-ending round 10 in San Luis.

In the teams' championship, the German Lamborghini squad dropped to fourth (182) behind Young Driver (224), JRM Racing (216) and Hexis (195).

Nico Verdonck (Exim Bank Team China Corvette) and Enrique Bernoldi (Sumo Power Nissan GT-R) provided great entertainment in a heated squabble over fifth place in the closing stages.

The honours eventually went to Verdonck even though Bernoldi crossed ahead of him af the flag. The stewards ruled Bernoldi's overtaking move under the safety car was illegal and relegated him to sixth. Bernoldi's demotion handed the Team China car fifth place - welcome cheer for home fans.

Ho-Pin Tung and Jeroen Den Boer in the Team China Corvette were running 11th, just out of the points, before Den Boer became yet another casualty with eight minutes left.

The final round of the 2011 FIA GT1 World Championship will take place in San Luis in Argentina on the 4-6 November, where the destination of the 2011 World Title will be decided.

Follow all the action live here at RaceDepartment on our officially SRO sanctioned GT1 live stream player.

 
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